Here in case anyone fancies a nice sticky. Will help any confusion about legality of weapons. This is an up to date list as to all weapons banned in the UK, with details and pictures.

Full-Auto Knife

Common Use Names:
Flick Knife, Switchblade, Automatic Knife
Cited:
The Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act (1959)
Prohibits:
Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person.
Legal Definition:
Any knife which has a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife.
Common Misconceptions:
Rolox actions, Speedsafe actions (commonly referred to as semi-automatic knives) are not full-auto knives. Whilst they open in a similar fashion, they do not meet the criteria of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act (1959), as the device required to be operated to deploy the blade is attached to the blade itself, and therefore is not in nor attached to the handle of the knife.

EUROPEAN AUTOMATIC STILETTO
KNIFE, TYPICALLY OF GERMAN OR
ITALIAN ORIGIN

Common Use Names:
Paratrooper Knife
Cited:
The Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act (1959)
Prohibits:
Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person.
Legal Definition:
Any knife which has a blade which is released from the handle by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force.
Common Misconceptions:
This workable definition was adapted from the Monroe County, New York, USA statute, which goes further to state "When released, is locked in place by means of a button, spring, lever or other device". Although the stated act does not refer to this point it must be assumed that this is what is inferred.

LUFTWAFFE PARATROOPER
KNIFE, TYPICALLY OF GERMAN
ORIGIN

TRADITIONAL GERMAN GRAVITY
KNIFE, TYPICALLY OF GERMAN
ORIGIN

MODERN GRAVITY KNIFE,
TYPICALLY OF FAR-EASTERN OR
EAST-ASIAN ORIGIN

Stealth Knife

Common Use Names:
Airport Knife
Cited:
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment) Order 2004
Prohibits:
Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person.
Legal Definition:
A knife or spike, which has a blade, or sharp point, made from a material that is not readily detectable by apparatus used for detecting metal and which is not designed for domestic use or for use in the processing, preparation or consumption of food, or as a toy.
Common Misconceptions:
None

COLD STEEL'S CAT TANTO IS
MADE FROM A SINGLE PIECE
OF HIGH-IMPACT RESISTANT
PLASTIC. IT LOOKS LIKE AN
ORDINARY KNIFE, BUT FEATURES
NO METAL COMPONENTS.

THIS COLD STEEL SPIKE IS ALSO
MANUFACTURED FROM A HIGH
IMPACT PLASTIC. HOWEVER,
SOME KNIFEMAKERS ALSO USE
OTHER MATERIALS, FOR
INSTANCE CERAMICS.

Disguised Knife

Common Use Names:
Hairbrush Dagger, Ink Pen Knife
Cited:
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 2002
Prohibits:
Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person.
Legal Definition:
Any knife which has a concealed blade or concealed sharp point and is designed to appear to be an everyday object of a kind commonly carried on the person or in a handbag, briefcase, or other hand luggage (such as a comb, brush, writing instrument, cigarette lighter, key, lipstick or telephone.
Common Misconceptions:
Knives commonly referred to as 'credit card' knives are not disguised knives, as although they are similar in shape to a credit card, this is simply to facilitate storage and no attempt is made to design the knife to appear to be a credit card - with or without the benefit of closer inspection.

THE INK-PEN KNIFE PULLS APART
TO REVEAL A SHARP BLADE.
TYPICALLY OF FAR-EASTERN
ORIGIN, BUT SOLD AROUND THE
WORLD AS NOVELTY ITEMS.

FROM THE OUTSIDE THIS KNIFE
LOOKS LIKE A LIPSTICK. ROTATE
THE BRASS COLOURED BARREL
TO EXTEND THE BLADE.
TYPICALLY OF FAR-EASTERN
ORIGIN, BUT SOLD AROUND THE
WORLD AS NOVELTY ITEMS.

Belt-Buckle Knife

Common Use Names:
None
Cited:
Criminal Justice Act 1988 / Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 2019
Prohibits:
Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person.
Legal Definition:
A buckle which incorporates or conceals a knife.
Common Misconceptions:
None

THIS BELT BUCKLE KNIFE IS A
SINGLE PIECE BUCKLE. BELT
BUCKLE KNIVES ARE ALMOST
EXCLUSIVELY AMERICAN IN
SOURCE, ALTHOUGH MANY ARE
MANUFACTURED IN THE FAR-EAST.
THEY HAVE A PARTICULAR
AFFILIATION WITH MOTOR-CYCLING
GROUPS IN AMERICA.

THIS AMERICAN MADE BELT
BUCKLE INCLUDES A FOLDING
LOCK KNIFE. BELT BUCKLE KNIVES
ARE OFTEN DECORATED.

THIS BELT BUCKLE KNIFE
INCLUDES A FOLDING LOCK KNIFE.

Push Dagger

Common Use Names:
None
Cited:
Criminal Justice Act 1988 / Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 2019
Prohibits:
Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person.
Legal Definition:
A knife, the handle of which fits within a clenched fist, and the blade of which protrudes from between two fingers.
Common Misconceptions:
Utility knives designed specifically for the purpose of opening boxes or packaging materials, particularly certain types of martial-arts training knives. For instance, the Gil Hibben knife features a handle which fits within a clenched fist, but the blade protrudes from between the thumb and the forefinger; not two fingers.

THIS COLD STEEL SAFEKEEPER
IS THE TYPICAL PUSH DAGGER
SILHOUETTE. TYPICALLY OF
AMERICAN OR FAR-EASTERN IN
ORIGIN.

THIS IS AN AMERICAN MADE
MODERN PUSH DAGGER.

Balisong

Common Use Names:
Butterfly Knife
Cited:
Criminal Justice Act 1988 / Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 2019
Prohibits:
Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person.
Legal Definition:
A blade enclosed by its handle, which is designed to split down the middle, without the operation of a spring or other mechanical means, to reveal the blade.
Common Misconceptions:
Pentographic knives are not Butterfly Knives, but they do fully meet the description of a Butterfly Knife and one must assume that perhaps inadvertently or not, they are prohibited.

AMERICAN MADE BALISONG
BUTTERFLY KNIFE, TYPICALLY
OF FAR-EASTERN OR AMERICAN
ORIGIN.

THIS BALISONG KNIFE IS MADE
IN CHINA, BUT SOLD MAINLY
THROUGH USA RETAIL OUTLETS.
MOST OFTEN AVAILABLE FOR
SALE VIA THE INTERNET.

Sword Cane

Common Use Names:
Sword Stick
Cited:
Criminal Justice Act 1988 / Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 2019
Prohibits:
Manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person.
Legal Definition:
A hollow walking-stick or cane containing a blade which may be used as a sword.
Common Misconceptions:
None

SWORD CANES TYPICALLY FEATURE
ENGRAVED OR DECORATED
HANDLES. MANUFACTURED THE
WORLD OVER, INCLUDING MANY
BRITISH EXAMPLES MADE DURING
THE VICTORIAN ERA.

Very informative thread, cheers. I wasn't actually aware of the 'gravity knives' You've now filled my early quota for learning something new.
On the subject though, I had a knife-lighter years ago that I'd brought back from Turkey, the lighter was decent, and on the side was a tiny switch that flicked up a shoddy knife. The knife was terrible and would actually retract if it came in contact with anything harder than paper. The fun part was getting asked for a light in the street and flicking the knife and cutting their cigarettes in half. Then running.
I honestly can't see how a belt buckle knife would ever be useful though. It seems possibly the strangest place to have a knife. It's not like you'd take it off, since then you might have a trouser malfunction.. Strange.

Git wrote:
I honestly can't see how a belt buckle knife would ever be useful though. It seems possibly the strangest place to have a knife. It's not like you'd take it off, since then you might have a trouser malfunction.. Strange.

their actually very effective, and dangerous. the knife is a seperate part of the mechinism. the holder for the knife is the belt buckle, which always stays in place, so when the blade is removed nothing bad happens to the users trousers.

theres a video somewhere of a certain brand of belt knives, shows just how quickly ne can be deployed.... scary stuff.

One maybe not so practical example is in Eraser where good ol' Arnie pulls a hidden buckle knife and lobs it at some guy. Point is it was hidden and can be used dangerously. Though not everyone is as great as Arnie and can throw knives with deadly accuracy faster than someone can fire a gun. He really did that.

____________________________________________________________________________
They that will not be counseled, cannot be helped. If you do not hear reason she will rap you on the knuckles hit and sting like a brass knuckle.

Last edited by AlvinTheLanche on Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

brass knuckles can be used offensively as well as defensively, not that it has any bearing on their legality.

Items have been banned by governments because of their use by criminals (in the case of the 1959 act, stealth knives amendment etc.) and then again in 1988 when certain items were in use by street criminals, but they went further and banned items which were believed 'may' be used by gangs, which is why it was so controversial.